Janet Hubert sparred onscreen with Will Smith as his character's Aunt Vivian in the first three series of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, but their relationship was far more bitter behind the scenes of the hit Nineties sitcom.

In 1993, Smith claimed that "Janet Hubert wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel Air Show", and that she had a personal vendetta against him ("To her I'm just the Antichrist"). By the fourth series, Hubert had been replaced by another actress.

That same year, she hit back: "Will Smith and Alfonso [Ribiero] destroyed a 20-year-career with untruths. I got slammed." Since then, Hubert has continued to criticise him. "There will never be a reunion," she said in 2011. "As I will never do anything with an a--hole like Will Smith. He is still an egomaniac and has not grown up."